Thank you for all the great reviews I recieved for chapter 1! And thank you to invader13panda whose drawings made me smile and feel warm inside. :D Now...

ENJOY!

Chapter 2

Walking purposefully down the dark corridor, Nero suddenly stopped, listening. He could hear beeping and a horrible scraping sound that made him wince. Glancing down the hall he could see that the door to the room Otto had been in only hours ago, was open. He hurried over to it and slipped inside.

His eyes widened. This was not what he'd expected. Wires lay strewn all round the room. Medical machines had fallen over, their screens shattering glass everywhere. The beeping came from the heart monitoring device and the scraping from a oxygen tank as it slid across the ground with the release of the gas inside.

Nero frowned. Otto was nowhere to be seen.

"Laura!" He called out tentatively as he stopped the gas cylinder with his foot. There was a click and the door to the bathroom swung open, the girl wearily peering around it.

"What happened?" The man asked, anxiously, seeing her tear streaked face as he strode over to her. She shook her head and looked towards the door. Raven had just walked in with a limp Otto over her shoulder.

"What happened to him?" Nero asked, incredulous.

"He attacked me and I hit him with a sleeper pulse." She replied matter - of - factly, walking over to the bed and dumping her cargo on top of it without looking.

"You do realise that you may have made him worse." He said, arms folded. The woman shrugged with a nonchalent smile.

"I don't think things could get much worse anyway." Laura suddenly said. She'd moved over to Otto and was staring down at him with longing on her face.

"What do you mean?" Nero asked, walking over to stand beside her.

"He's lost his memory." Her voice cracked and she swallowed before continuing. "I don't know how much of it's gone though. He doesn't remember me or H.I.V.E. But he remembers Raven. At least I think that's who he meant."

"And what exactly did he say?" The man asked, frowning.

"He said that the last thing he remembered was having a gun pointed at him and getting shot by a woman with a scar across her face." Laura replied, stroking Otto's hair.

"I've never held a gun to his face!" Raven said indignantly. The other two looked at her with dubious looks.

"Are you sure?" Nero said, running a hand through his hair.

"Yes... No... Actually... when I was recruiting him. I held a sleeper gun to his face. Could he possibly be remembering that?" Raven wondered aloud.

"That was three years ago." Laura said, eyes wide. "That means he's lost three years of his memories."

"We don't know that. And somehow I doubt it. When he awoke in the helicopter three years ago he was fine. H.I.V.E. didn't faze him one bit. It's like he's a different person. I would've expected him to act the same way he did back then." Nero said, beginning to pace back and forth across the end of the bed.

"No. He's still Otto." Laura said, staring hard at the man. "But tell me. How would you have reacted if you had woken up in a hospital, one that you didn't recognise, surrounded by people you didn't recognise, three years of your memories missing and the last recollection you have is of a foreign woman holding a gun to your face?"

Nero sighed. The girl had point. But they weren't going to find out anything until some tests were done. So it was with trepidation that he pulled out his blackbox and asked H.I.V.E. mind to call Dr Scott to the room.

Otto moaned softly. There was a throbbing in his head and he felt sick. What had happened? He tried to bring forth his memories but there was nothing but darkness.

There were, however, voices. They drifted towards him slightly muffled but nevertheless distinguishable.

"You mean he attacked you?" A girl was saying in shock. "Like attacked you? For real? What was he thinking?"

"Nothing." Another female voice replied. "He's lost his memory. He wasn't thinking at all. Dr Scott said that his memories may or may not come back. And we have to help. Drop prompts and hints here and there."

"If we have to, we'll show him a video, how about that?" An older male voice said. Whoever it was sighed. "Come on. I said you could visit not stay for tea. We need to find a way of tracking down Rick."

"And you're asking for our help?" The first girl said incredulous. "I'm in!"

"And I'll stay. Someone has to make sure he's alright when he wakes up." The second female voice said.

"Are you sure? After what happened last time?" An unfamiliar voice said. "No, I'll stay here with you. To be on the safe side."

"Thanks."

There was the sound of footsteps leaving and Otto opened his eyes the tiniest crack. Harsh light flooded in and he had to squint to protect his eyes. He glanced around, trying to be discreet. An asian boy, tall with long dark hair, sat to his left, deep in thought. To his right sat the red head he'd first met.

As he looked at her, he realised that she was watching him silently and he flinched away. The movement did not go unnoticed by the boy and at once he focused, looking at him with concern.

"Can you stop looking at me like that?" Otto croaked, his throat dry.

"Like what?" He asked, frowning.

"Like you know me, when you obviously don't."

The boy looked across at the red head, Laura, who shrugged.

Otto sighed and made to sit up. That's when he realised that he couldn't move. His wrists and ankles were tied to the bed and a strap held is chest down.

"What the heck is this?" He nearly shouted at them.

"It's for your own safety." Laura said, biting her lip.

"Safety from what exactly?"

"Yourself!" She yelled, abruptly standing up. "You've lost your memory at the worst possible time! Not only has your brother been kidnapped but it's possible that Overlord might come back! You have no chance against him like this! So I suggest you stop whining and start trying to remember, or everyone is going to end up dead!"

Otto raised an eyebrow, slightly stunned. Then he cleared his throat.

"I have no idea what Overlord is, I don't have a brother, I'm an orphan and you guys are all delusional. Now LET ME GO!" He screamed, eyes burning.

"I HATE YOU!" She screamed back, gritting her teeth. "You'll never be the same! You know I'm glad I kissed Rick. He's older and less immature!"

The girl hesitated for a second and took a deep breath. She looked like she was about to continue but then she changed her mind and glared at him, before walking towards the door and out into the corridor.

"Why the heck would I care if she likes me and why should I care about who she kisses?" Otto asked the empty room. Only it wasn't empty. Wing was still there.

"Real smooth, Otto. Real smooth."

"And who are you?"

"I'm Wing. You're friend. Now if you'll excuse me..." The boy said, standing up. He looked at Otto on more time as if sizing him up and then left in pursuit of the girl.

"Oh yeah! Fine! Just leave me!" Otto shouted after him.